Speed-regulating device for water-wheels.



7 PATENTED MAY 29, 1906. H. E. WARREN. I

SPEED REGULATEING DEVICE FOR WATER-WHEELS. APPLIOATIONTILE EPT.1'8,1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WT JE EES:

PATENTED MAY 29, 1906.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18. 1902.

a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

\M EESEE;

PATENTBD MAY 29,1906.

H. E. WARREN. SPEED REGULATING DEVICE FOR WATER WHEELS.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 18. 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

VV/T/vEs'sEs: 16%.

' from the main watera'eservoir to the wheel .is generally necessary in connection with such UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. WA RREN, ()F NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE L(.).\IBARD (Ti'OVERNOR "COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, .A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SPEED-REGULATING DEVICE FOFLWATiER-WHEELS Specification of Letters Patent. Application jiled September 18,1902. .SerialNo.123.860.

Patented May 29, 1906.

To rtZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it. known that I, HEN Y E. WARREN, a citizen of the United. States of America, re siding at Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful- Improvements in Speetl- Regulatin-g Devices for VVater-Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

The in'iprovements relate especially to those types of wheels known as impact or tangentialf. in which a stream of water flowing at high velocity from ,a nozzle imparts a portion of its energy to rotate the wheel or cylinder by impact upon its vanes or buckets. Such water-wheels are in general use wher ever there is a supply of water under a high head, usually more than fifty feet, and frequently as great as several hundred feet. It

water-wheels to have a long pipe-linoleading and for that reason it hasheretofore been found-to be imprzurticable to control the speed of the wheel by a quick ,-acting valve in the supply-pipe leading to the wheel, so to reduce or increase the amount of water flowing thereto according to the variations in load upon the wheel.' If such a'valve were to be used, there would be, great danger of bursting the pipe-line, owing to the great inertia of the moving mass of waterin the pipe itself, which if suddenly stopped would produce a pressure back of the valve proportional to the velocity of the flow-of the water and inversely proportional to the velocity of the closing of the valve. Such a valve could be closed with safety if moved at a slow enough rate; but since the load variations on the wheel are liable to be almost instantaneous it would-be wholly impracticable to attempt to close the valve quickly enough to maintain a constant speed of the wheel. Therefore it has been the custom to allow the water to flow from the nozzle at a. constant rate and to compensate for changes in load on the water-wheel by (it-fleeting the stream, so that a greater or less amount would strike the buckets and do cll'ect ivc work while the rest would be wasted. This has been accomplished by tilting the nozzledoward or from the buckets, thus changmg the angular direction of flow'of water.

Also it is sometimes effected by a movable shield which deflects a portion of the stream of water flowing therefrom.

By my invention the same control of the speed of the wheel is eli'ected, but with a minimum waste of water. vCertain specific forms of devices and appliances which I have found convenient for accomplishing this object are described and set forth in the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 represents in side elevation and partly in section one form of the device which I employ to control the flow of water to the water-wheel. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of the three-way valve shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is the sameas Fig. ].,except that it contains a modification of the small motor and its operating devices bywhich the flow of water to the water-wheel is regulated. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the valve shown in Fig. 3, through which water is supplied to the supplemental motor. 'Fi 5'is another form of mechanism which I wi l designate the 7 5 dash-pot control. v

Referring to Fig. 1, A represents an impact water-wheel supplied with water under high pressure from the pipe D, through the nozzle B, which is arranged to be tilted about a suitable pivot I), so as to deflect the stream and by changing its direction throw more or less water against the buckets a. O is 'a governor properly connected, .by means of a link 0 and other intermediate mechanism hereinafter described, with the nozzle B, and by changing its position the impact of water upon the wheel A may be regulated and its speed controlled. The governor is connected with the'wheel A by a belt (1. At some point in the pipe-line D, preferably, as shown, at the nozzle B, is an adjustable valve e to throttle the flow of water through the nozzle.

Suitable mechanism, such as a screw f and worm-nut 9, maybe employed to operatethe 5 valve 0. The nut g is turned by means of a worm w on the shaft of a small motor E, (indicated inthe drawings as awater-moton) but a motor driven by steam, electricity, or other motive power may be used. In Fi 1, Too E is a small motor mounted on the nozz e B and supplied with Water to operate it one direction or the other through the outlets t .and h, connected, respectively, by flexible is connected by suitable mechanical means, such as the link 12, bell-crank lever and-link c, with the nozzle B, so thatas t at nozzle swings u and down upon the pivot b the lever n Wll simultaneously turn the valve F and open a passage into the port k and outlet i, or the port l and outlet h, and direct Water onto thernotor E, thus causing it to revolve in one or the other direction as the nozzle B oscillates to one sideor the other of a certain position, which I shall hereinafter call norma in which position the lever n is central, and no Water is flowing through-either ol' the outlets i or h.- The normal position of the nozzle B may be made adjust-able by means of a turnbuckle r or. similar connection in the link 1), which connects the valve-lever n with the nozzle B. r

In the modified form of devices for operating the valve e shown in Figs. 3 and/L the small motor E is of the piston type and is mounted o :1 the nozzle B, the extended stem f of the valve e serving as the rod for this motoriston f. As in the form shown in Fig. 1, the cylinder of this motor is supplied with water through flexible pipes h '5, connected at its respective ends, from a valve F, which this instance is of the piston type and consists of a c linder provided with a supply-pipe m an two outlet-pipes k l. 'ithin this cylinder is a dbuble-headed piston-valve 0, provided with a longitudinal opening ,through it for the passage of water from the upper to the lower end of the cylinder. The rod 0 of the'piston o is connected to one end of a lever 10, Which'is pivoted at p, and the other end of the lever 11 is connected with the nozzle B by a link 19 By this means it will be seen that when the nozzle is deflected downward by an increase in speed of the governor the piston 0 of the valve F will be'moved upward and the port Z will be opened, permitting water under pressure to flow to the motor E through the opening '5 and push the piston therein, with its rod f, toward the outlet of the nozzle B, and thereby tend to close the valve 6 and diminish the flow of water through the nozzle. -The downward movement of the nozzle B. de fleets a lar er amount ofwater from the buckets of t e wheel A, which will decrease its speed,- and at the same time through the belt d" decrease the speed of the revolving balls of the governor C, which, as with the previously-described mechanism, will cause the nozzle B to move toward the wheel A until it assumes its normal position again. The return of the nozzle B will, through the connections with the lever 12, return the piston-valve 0 to a central position in its cylinder, and thereb close both ports 7c and l; but the. valve 67 will to which it was moved by theoperation of the motor E, and thus produce a discharge fromthe nozzle proportioned to the changed load on the water-wheel A. A movement upward of the nozzle B, due to a decrease in speed of the governor, caused by an increase of load-on the wheel A, will draw the piston 0 of the valve F downward, open the port It, and permit water under pressure to flow through the pipe h to the forward end of the motor E and push back the piston therein, which will tend to open the valve e. The piston-valve 0 is so constructed that when one of the ports 7c or Z is open for the flow of water under pressure the other is open to the waste or discharge pipe m and by this arrangement when water under pressureds admitted upon one side ofithe piston in the mo ter E-for instance, through the pipe *i-the water upon the other side of the piston will be discharged through the pipe h and into the valve F through the port It and out of the pipe m Under these conditions the operation of the motor E tends to close the valve 6, and as it is desirable that this operation should be very slow a check-valve h is placed in the pipe h and an adjustable by-pass h around the check-valveis provided, so thatthe speed of the discharge of water from the motor E through the pipe k may be regulated as desired. When, however, water under pressureis conducted to the motor E through the pipe h, the check-valve oflers no obstruc\ tion, and the water flows freely to the for-,

ward end of the motor and is as freely discharged fromflthe other end of the pipe 1', so

remain in the new position ICC that the valve e may be quickly opened;

For the purpose of regulating the amount o flow of water through the pipes i and h throttle-valves Z and 70 may be placed therein. ,As it may be desirable at some times to operate the valve e by hand, I provide a wheel w, onthe shaft of which is a pinion which engages a rack 10 upon the rod f. At such times the motor-cylinder E should be relieved from the water resistance, which may be accomplished by opening escape-valves 'a: a) in the pipes i and h and closing the valves ll k! I IIO rrs

the modified form of devices for operating the valve e shown in Fig. 5 and which I call the dash-pot control the link o, which is connected at one end with the gov ernor-operated crank q, is connected at-the other end with a floating lever S at the point 0 One end of the lever S is pivoted to a rod s, which extends out from a iston 0 within a dash-pot G. The other on of the lever S is tral position between two posts a u by stron opposing springs t 25 secured thereto, an when the arm b is in this central position the nozzle will occupy what I have termed its normal position.

A lever g, fulcrumed at g is pivoted at one end to the piston-rod s and. at the other end to a link 9 which link is attached to the stem of the valve e. It will be seen, therefore, that any movement of the piston .in the dash-pot G will, through the rod ,9, lever g, and link 9 cause a movement of the valve-e Within the nozzle B. The

' dash-pot G is filled with liquid, the speed of movement of whichfrom one side to theother .(shown in Fig. 1) to give a slow movement of the valve ,6 when it is necessary to chan e the volume of water flowing from the nozz e B, and as the point 0 of the lever S occupies a different position in relation to the fulcrum b of thenozzle B:for each change in the speed relationbetween the water-wheelA and the governor C the relative position of the valve e and the opening in the nozzle B will be correspondingly different when the nozzle has resumedvits normal position, and the volume of water which then flows throngh thenozzle will vary accordingly and be in proportion to the load on the water-wheel.

V In practical use the operation of my improvements may e explained as follows: Referring for example, tothe construction shown in Fig. 1, assume, first, that the velocity of the'wheel A is normal andthe nozzle '1 B is standing in its normal position. When in this position, the direction-of the stream flowing therefrom shouldbe such that its entire volume will not quite com' letely strike the buckets a of the wheel A ;-ot erwise there .would be noopportunityto produce an increase.

Under these normal conditions .the

' balls of the governor U will be running at a of water to flow through the nozzle B to produce the normal speed.

constant speed and the mechanism operated thereby will be stationary, ,as will also the motor E, and the position of the valve 6 will be such as to allow net the necessary amount Now let-a decrease in'the load carried by the wheel A occur.

The speed of the wheelA will instantly beginto increase and the resulting increased speed ol the governor (J'Wlll mlniedlately move the nozzle B so as to deflect the jet of water Howing tlm-mgh it away from the bucketsa. At

the same time this movement of the nozzle B will cause a movement of the lever n and.

0 en the valve F so as to allow water to flow t rough it from the pipe m to the port It and thence from the outlet i against the buckets upon one side of the motor E, causing it to rotate to the left and by means of the worm w and the nut g to begin slowly to close the valve e. As the valve e continues to close the flow of water through the nozzle B will gradually diminish and the speed of the Wheel Awill have a tendency to fall below the nor mal,.and would do so, except for the fact that the governor C will, by its action, due to this decrease in speed of the wheel A, bring the nozzle B gradually back again into its normal position, when the discharge-varying means Will cease to act and there will be no further change in the position of the valve 6, for the reason that the three-way valve [1 will have been closed. The valve e will, however, be in a diflerent' osition from that which it occupied before t e load change occurred, and the dischar e will be proportioned tosuch change. her an increase of load and a consequent temporary decrease in speed of the wheel A the nozzle B will be moved by the'govern'or C toward that wheel, thus throwing against the buckets a that portion of the stream of water which was. passing {gist outside of these buckets when the nozzle was in its normal osition. This increased amount of waterwi l assist in keeping up the speed of the wheel A. At the same time the valve Fwill allow water to flow through the outlet h againstthe' motor E upon the other side thereof, thereby gradually opening the valve 6 and instantlythrowing a sufficiently. I large stream of water against the buckets a of the wheel A to increase its speed andalso 1o 5 thatfof the governor, which will radually bring the nozzle B back to its normal position again and also stop the'action of-the motor E upon-the valve *0 The operation of the devices shown in Fig. 3 is the same excepting 110 that the supplemental motor is of the hydraulic cylinder and piston type, which will be understood from the previous descri tion thereof. The operation of the devices s own in Fig. 5 accomplishes the same result-that r 1 is, the first action of the governor due to a change of speed is to act directly upon the' other, andby that operation, instead'of starting a supplemental motor toact upon the noz- 1 2o zle-valve, one of the springs t t is put under tension to furnish the motive power, and then, as that s ring under the restraint of the dash-pot slow y returns thenozzle to its normal position the valve Within that nozzle I2 5 nozzle to deflect it in one direction or the relative amount of movementof the valve e 1 0 may be regulated by adjustment of the fulcrum-point g in relation tothe ends of the lever 9. An analysis of these actions of my improvements will show that the governing of the speed of a water-wheel is carried out through two stages of'o erations, in the first of which the governor, t ough its connection with the tilting nozzle or other deflecting device, maintains the speed of the wheel substantially constant by instantaneously throwing agreater or less portion of the stream of water upon the buckets of the wheel, while in the second stage there is a gradual adjustment of a valve to increase or decrease the amount of water flowing through the nozzle,

to correspond with the requirements of the load upon the water-wheel when the nozzle is in a position to give nearly the maximum efliciency of the stream of water flowing through it. The character of the load upon the water-wheel in which the sudden fluctuations are likely to occur will determine the normal ,position of the nozzle, which should be arranged to throw asnearly as possible the entire volume of its, stream upon the buckets of the wheel and still have a suflicin-t portion of the streamnormally thrown outside of these buckets to be brought into action to meet any suddenincrease in load which might require temporarily the full volumeof the stream upon the buckets. The s eed of movement which may be given to t e valve e by its actuating-motor will depend upon the conditions at the plant where the device is installed. If the pipe-line leading to the nozzle is extremely long and conducts water from a. great height, it will be necessary to have the valve e move very regulation-of an impulse water-wheel with' slowly in. itsthrottling action, while if the pipe-line is comparatively ,short the valve e can safely be moved with much greater speed.

Having explained the operation ofseveral forms of construction embodying my invention, it will be seen that the purpose of the improvement is to eflect the accurate speedthe highest possible efliciency in the use of water, and at the same time'with'ec-onomy,

cutting ofl as rapidly as ossible consisten't withsafety to. the" supp y-pip'e the portion of the water which is serving no useful purpose. I claim' I 1. Iii-combination with a water-Wheel, a water-sup ly pipe, automatically-operated means to c ange the direction of flow of water from the pipe against the wheel, a valve to regulate the flow of water-from the pipe I and'interconnecting mechanism between t said flow-changing means and the valve,

' which tends .tomove the valve whenever the flow-changing means are out of their predetermined normal positions. 1 g 2. Incombinatwn with a water-wheel, a

water-supply pipe, automatically-operated means to change the direction of flow of water from the pipe against the wheel, a valve to regulate the flow of water from the pipe, mechanism to o erate the valve, which mechanism is contro led by said direction-changing means, an a speed-governor'which pri marily operates said means.

3. In combination with a'water-wheel, a water-supply pipe, means for-automatically turning a portion of the water flowing from the pipe, away from 'or toward the wheel, a

valve to regulate the flow of water from thepipe, a speed-governor, and interconnecting operating mechanism between the governor and the automatic turning means, and'the said valve.

4. In combination with a'water-wheel, a

v valve by the action of the mechanism which moves the deflecting means from their normal position to increase the impact of water upon'the wheel. v

. 5'. In combination-with a water-wheel; a tilting supply-nozzle; mechanism to tilt the nozzle automatically either away from or toward the wheel whenever it changesiuspeed';

.a' valve to regulate the flow of water from the nozzle, and valve-operat ng mechanism which is controlled by the mechanism thattilts the nozzle. '1 v 6. In combination with a water-wheel, a

tilting supplynozzle; a speed governor; mechanism actuated by the governor which is connected with and tiltsthe nozzle ya valve to regulate the flow of water from the nozzle,

and means to operate the'valve which means are controlled by the tilting mechanism of the nozzle. 7. Incombination tilting supply-nozzle; interconnecting'mechanism between the waterewheel and the nozzle to tilt; the latter either away from'or toward thewheel whenever it changes in speed; a \valveto regu'latethe flow of'water from the nozzle; a motor which-is controiled bythe nozzle-tilting. mechanism to clo e the valve when thenozzle is moved iromit s normal position away froni-theiwheel andto open the with a water-wheel; a

IIO'

valve when the-nozzle is'movedfrom its,nor-. p

mal position toward the wheel.

8. In combination 'with'a pivoted nozzle of I the character described, means for, adjusting the nozzle u onfits'pivo't,fmechanism carrie by the nozzefto'regulate the cross-sectional area of its discharge andwhich is'free-t'oi be operated irrespective of'the position-of the nozzle, and automatic means for operating said mechanism; I

9. In combination with a water-wheel nozzle, primary-means to give it approximate adjustments to vary the direction of the stream discharged therefrom, secondary means upon the nozzle, to regulate the crosssectional area of said stream to correspond substantially with the portion which'strikes the Wheel after an-approximate adjustment .of the nozzle, and mechanism to automaticto vary the direction of the stream discharged therefrom, in relation to the water wheel, secondary means upon the nozzle to regulate the cross-sectional area of the stream to correspond with that which strikes the wheel after any approximateadjustment of the nozzle, and'mechanism to automatically operate said secondary means.

12. In combination with a supply-nozzle for a water-wheel, means to move the nozzle to direct the stream issuing therefrom, wholly or in part a ainst the buckets of the wheel, or outside oi the buckets, devices within the nozzle to regulate the amount of water flowing therefrom, and'means to automatically adjust said devices.

13. In hydraulic regulating means, the combination with the hydraulic motor, of a pivoted nozzle, means for automatically adjustingsaid nozzle on its pivot, means for regulating the cross-sectional area of the discharge-opening of the nozzle to vary the discharge proportionately to the working load of the motor, and devices for automatically operating the means which vary the crosssectional area of the nozzles discharge. e

14'. The combination with a hydraulic motor of thedescribed character, of governor mechanism, a pivoted nozzle, means actuated by the governor mechanism for automatically adjusting said nozzle on its pivot, means for varying the cross-sectional area of the discharge-opening pf thenozzle to vary the amount discharged therefrom proportionately to the working load of the motor, and devicescontrolled by the governor mechanism for actuating the means for varying the outlet area of the nozzle.

15. The combination with a hydraulic mo tor, of governor mechanism, a nozzle tor the discharge of an impactor propelling stream onto the motor, means actuated by the gov ernor mechanism for var' \"i|. g the direction of the discharged stream, means for varying the discharge from the nozzle proportionately to the working load of the motor, and devices controlled by the governor mechanism for operating the means for varying the discharge from the nozzle.

16. The combination with a hydraulic n10- tor, of governor mechanism, a nozzle tor the discharge of an impact-stream, devices operated by the governor for varying the direction of the impact-stream andassociated de vices controlled by said governor'mechanism for varying the discharge of the stream from the nozzle proportionately to the. working load of the motor.

17. The combination with a hydraulic motor, of governor mechanism, a nozzle for the discharge of an impact-stream, devices actuated by the governor mechanism for varying the directionoi the nozzles discharge, and associated devices controlled by said gov ernor mechanism for varying the cross-sec-- tional area of discharge proportionately to the working load 'of the motor, said dev ces comprising means for ai-luatingthe same with a more rapid movement during the increase of the outlet area of the nozzle than the movement imparted thereto during the:

decrease of said outlet area. I

18. The combination with a hydraulic motor, of governor mechanism, a nozzle for the discharge of an impact-stream to operate the motor, means actuated by the governor mechanism tovary the direction of the noz zles discharge in accordance with the working load of the motor, and means actuated by the pressure of thewater-supply for adjusting the cross-sectional area of discharge from the nozzle, to correspond with the amount of water which strikes the motor at each changed direction or position of the stream discharged.

19. The combination with the line or supply-pipe for a water-wheel, a discharge-nozzle inovably connected thereto, means for raising and lowering the nozzle in accordance with the load variations on the wheel, and.

means to automatically vary the outlet area for the stream ejected from the nozzle to meet the requirements of the load changes.-

20. In combination with a water-wheel nozzle, means for raising or lowering it proportionately to the load variations on the wheel, and means for automatically varying the area of the stream discharged inaccordance with the changes in position ot the nozzle due to said load variations.

21. In combination with a deilectable water-Wheel nozzle, means for varying the position thereof in accordance with-load varia- .tions on the wheel a lon ituilinall'v-movable plug located within the nozzle, and means for automatically moving the plug in or out to change the outlet areafor the stream to correspond with the variations in position of the nozzle.

- 22. In combination with awater-wheel nozzle, means for varying the direction of the stream ejected therefrom, to meet the requirements of the load variations on the wheel, and means whereby the outlet area for the stream is automatically varied to com-- mechanism for varying the discharge of the nozzle proportionatelyto the working load of the motor, and means operated through the movement of the nozzleto cause said discharge-varying means to cease to act when the nozzle-dischar e has been proportioned to the'working load of the motor.

25. The combination with a hydraulic motor, of governor mechanism, a nozzle for'the discharge of an impact'or propellingstream upon the motor, means actuated by the gov;

ernor mechanism for varying the direction of thestream discharged, automatically; operf ated means for varying the nozzle-discharge proportionately to the working load of the .motor', which means are controlled by the 26. In combination with a pivoted water wheel nozzle adapted to move in a vertical plane, means for-automatically adjusting the nozzle on its pivot, mechanism carried'by the nozzle and free to move therewith for regulating the cross-sectional area of the discharge therefrom, and automatic means for operating the regulating mechanism when the nozzle is tilted.

.27. In ahydraulic nozzlefor a water-wheel, mechanism for automatically regulating the i amount of water discharged therefrom, combined with mechanism for directing the nozzles discharge toward or' deflecting it from the wheel.

28. In a hydraulic nozzle for a water-wheel, mechanism for automatically regulating the amount of water discharged therefrom combined with automatically-operated-mechan ism for directing the nozzle-outlet toward or deflecting it' from the wheel.

v "HENRY E. WARREN; Witnesses: I I REUBEN L. 'Ronnnrs,v EDITH M. PooLE. 

